Medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) on Thursday threatened to file suit against the City of San Diego if it doesn’t amend a recent ordinance that patient advocates are calling a de facto ban on local cannabis distribution facilities.
ASA argued in a letter sent to City Attorney Jan Goldsmith that the ordinance violates due process rights of medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives by forcing them to shut down in 30 days, leaving virtually no options for relocation.
Unless the city can “ease the restrictions on medical marijuana collectives, so that qualified patients can obtain the medicine they need,” the letter, authored by ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, said that the organization and its patient base would be “compelled” to seek such remedies in court.
The letter suggested that the San Diego City Council amend its ordinance to allow “medical marijuana collectives to operate in most commercial and all industrial zones” and increase “the period to obtain a conditional use permit to one year.”